Middle States Visit

Next week (March 26 to March 29) brings the Middle States Team to Widener as we approach the final stages of the re-accreditation process. Thanks to all who have responded promptly and collegially to requests for meetings, documents, and additional information.

On Monday, March 27, from 2 to 3 pm in the Webb Room, an open hour will be held for any member of the university community to meet with Team Chair Dr. Anne Skleder.

Members of the faculty are reminded that two open meetings for faculty will be held with the team: Monday, March 27 and Tuesday, March 28, both at 4pm in the Webb Room.

The Evaluation Team Exit Report will be held Wednesday, March 29, from 10 to 11am in Alumni Auditorium—this meeting is open to all members of the university community.

The final version of the self-study report is available on Campus Cruiser: Under “Committees” in Campus Cruiser, members of the Widener community will find a link called “Widener Middle States Self Study.” The PDF may be accessed there, with links to supporting documentation. Please consider reviewing the report prior to the Team Visit.

We are a little more than one month away from our Middle States Team Visit. Here is what you need to know:

The Team Visit is scheduled for March 26 through March 29. The team is being led by Dr. Anne Skleder, Provost and Senior Vice President of Wilkes University.

Meetings with a variety of campus constituents and Dr. Skleder and the nine team members are being scheduled over the course of those several days, including meetings with undergraduate and graduate students, members of the Board of Trustees, the Executive Team, Faculty Council Executive Committee, and the Student Learning Assessment Advisory Group.

Faculty are invited to attend an open forum on Monday, March 27 OR Tuesday, March 28. Two meetings are being held in order to provide options for faculty schedules. Both meetings will be held at 4pm in the Webb Room.

The final self-study report is now available to the entire campus community. Under “Committees” in Campus Cruiser, members of the Widener community will find a link called “Widener Middle States Self Study.” The PDF may be accessed there, with links to supporting documentation. Please consider reviewing the report prior to the Team Visit.

As always, please feel free to get in touch with any of the tri-chairs with questions.

Last week, on November 10, our Middle States Team Chair came to campus in preparation for the March evaluation visit. The Team Chair, Dr. Anne Skleder, met with key groups to advance our re-accreditation process to the next stage. These included Faculty Council Executive Committee, the Student Learning Assessment Advisory Group, members of the Executive Team, members of the Board of Trustees, and student leaders, as well as the Middle States Steering Committee. Dr. Skleder explained the accreditation process and gave a sense of how the March visit will go and what we can expect. All in all, those who met with her found her to be a good listener, clear communicator, and experienced evaluator.

Dr. Skleder, who is Senior Vice President and Provost at Wilkes University, will lead a team of eight evaluators; the team arrives on March 26 and will be working with us until March 29. Meanwhile, we await specific feedback from Dr. Skleder on our self-study. Another round of revisions will take place based on her comments, before the final report goes to the team six weeks before the visit.